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'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Finale Shatters Viewership Record

The "Game of Thrones" Season 7 finale brought in huge numbers for HBO on Sunday night, which, honestly, should surprise exactly no one.

Episode 7, "The Dragon and the Wolf," was the cherry on the top of a record-breaking season, and it reached a new viewership high for the series, Variety reports. Some 12.1 million people tuned in as HBO aired it, according to Nielsen data, with millions more streaming the episode that evening. Including same-night streams, a total of 16.5 million viewers watched the finale on Sunday.

The original airing's numbers are enough to top the series' previous viewership high, which was set with Season 7, Episode 5, "Eastwatch," on Aug. 13, according to Deadline. That episode topped 10.7 million viewers, in spite of hacks and leaks. The Season 7 finale's audience is even more impressive compared to previous finales. The data shows that Sunday's viewership topped the final Season 6 episode's by more than a third, as the June 26, 2016 episode airing was caught by 8.89 million people.

Evidently, more and more people keep getting hooked on the show, and with so many big developments this season, that is understandable. However, the series' millions of fans will have to wait a long until "Game of Thrones" Season 8 premieres. The six-episode final season isn't expected before 2018, or possibly even 2019.